Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  83 responses

Dwight Howard: ‘Not Going to Change Anything About Me’

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

When discussing Dwight Howard’s game (and personality), fans and media generally have three complaints: his offensive repertoire isn’t developed enough, he doesn’t shoot free throws well, and Howard just smiles too damn much.

Dwight is more than willing to work on the first two gripes; it’s the last one that he has major issues with. So, when Skip Bayless — he of the loud, angry, and utterly meaningless rants on television — said he prefers the aging Tim Duncan over Dwight, the gentle giant responded rather sharply.

The Orlando Sentinel captured Dwight Howard’s reaction last night:

“I think everybody has a problem with anything I do on the floor. We got to the Finals last year with the same way I played this year. I’m not going to change who I am, I’m not going to change my personality. I’m not going to change anything about me. I’ve been playing basketball since I was three years old. I never changed one part of myself in this game. I’ve gotten a lot better since I’ve been playing basketball, but one thing that has always been consistent is I’m going to have fun out there. Basketball brings me joy. I don’t care what people say about me smiling too much or having too much fun. Hey, I’m doing something I love. I’m going to be thankful and have fun doing it.”

“I don’t know what he could possibly say. Scottie Pippen said things, also Skip. I know in order to win you gotta work hard and that’s one thing that I do. I work extremely hard on both ends. I might have nights where I might not shoot the ball as well but I’m still going to work hard, I’m still going to play defense and do all the small things. Numbers don’t lie.,,Well Skip Bayless can call me out a million times. I don’t think he’s ever put on a jock strap, stepped on the floor and played any type of basketball. That’s his job. That’s their job to criticize players. Only people that we have to listen to are our coaches. Those are the guys that get paid to make us better players.’

For whatever reason, people don’t like the idea of an athlete — especially an elite one — playing the game with a smile on their face. It leads people to believe that the player doesn’t take the game seriously enough.

Unfortunately for Dwight, until he wins a title doing things his own jovial way, he’ll continue to hear this petty criticism. Hell, it might even continue after that. That’s life in the media age. Sorry, D12.

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  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

    Not a big Skip Bayless fan, so i always co-sign anyone who disagrees with him as long as they too are not a douche. Good job, Dwight.

  • http://jdfkslld.com Jukai

    Magicman101: I get the point yer trying to make, but Shaq, while not having many offensive moves, probably had double to triple the post moves that Dwight does. Seriously. People piss on Shaq because he didn’t have the moves of a Hakeem or Ewing or Walton or Jabbar down low… but then they saw Dwight and said “wow, I guess Shaq wasn’t that bad in the low post after all.”
    But the smiling comment is stupid. Magic smiled all the time. I mean all the time. The only time he didn’t smile was playing against the Celtics, cause he hated Bird. But when he went up against the Pistons/76ers, it was all smiles in the finals. Don’t you remember him playing center? After he got that first tip, it looked like the smile was gonna crack his face in half.
    I’ve never heard ONCE people telling Magic to stop smiling and look angry.

  • http://jdfkslld.com Jukai

    I think the problem with Dwight Howard is that people talk about how the offense is dulled down for the center position in today’s day and age, and they don’t realize how much harder it is to be a dominant DEFENSIVE center in today’s game with ticky-tac fouls, the restricted zone, and 3-second violations. Dwight would easily be Robinsonesque in the 80s/90s.

  • LA Huey

    @Magicman101, “Howard = 100% pure mussel”. I did not know the NBA allowed those with Mollusk in their family history to play. These rule changes suck. I miss the days when Magic and Bird could play without sharing the court invertebrates.

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    First off, all Howard needs is one MVP and he is tied with Shaq. Also Howard only needs 3 rings, Shaq 4th ring as a bystander as the refs gave him his 4th in the worst called series in NBA HISTORY doesn’t count. Howard is top 5 player in the league, he smiled his way from a lay up and some stops from beating my Lakers. I would take Howard over anybody in the league right now with his age. A center spot that can get you 20 and 15 everynight is important. Defense wins games, not scoring. Ask the 2008 Lakers for that, also Howard will go down as a great, he is dominate with out a post game, so stop hating and realize he is what he is.

  • Tom

    someone should call him out on that running right hand hook. That is literally all he can do on an iso, someone tell him to stop calling for the ball so much with such a weak offensive game. Someone please call Van Gundy out for giving Howard anything but alley-oops. Am i the only person out there that thinks Orlando could be so much more consistent if they stopped wasting possessions giving him iso’s.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Robinsonesque on defense, Jukai? I agree. I know you weren’t talking about offense though. Tell me you weren’t.

  • The Philosopher

    Jukai is right about the centers of today. Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Chris Kaman, Andrew Bynum. That may be it.

  • The Philosopher

    Andrew Bogut is coming around too.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/category/blogs/san-dova-speak-easy/ San Dova

    I have no problem with Dwight’s smile and personality, it actually makes me feel better about watching him.

    I DO, however, wish he’d start to really work on his offensive game. I think he does, but he’s been slow to develop, and I wonder just how dedicated he is to getting some actual signature moves that aren’t dunks–not that I want him laying the ball up, but it would be nice if he and Patrick Ewing worked on a fall-away jumper. You know. Like the one Patrick had.

  • dankNugs

    “The Philosopher Posted:
    Jukai is right about the centers of today. Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Chris Kaman, Andrew Bynum. That may be it.”

    gotta put Nene in that discussion. He’s solid on both sides of the court and can put up numbers if he needs to.

  • http://www.realcavsfans.com Anton

    So you`ll continue being a b!tch ni&&a who doesn`t demand the ball?
    Alrighty then.

  • doyouwantmore

    Dwight’s awesome. He could create a fake scowl and pose like he’s mean, but instead he goes out an dominates and probably does work very hard on his game. I gained respect for him when he said that he’s thankful and having fun.

  • Linda Bart

    Dwight, I know that everyone thinks that you are goofing off. Yes, you have a good time but when it come to playing you are the center and plays come around you. Stop taking newsmedia negative comments so hard. Most Comments are good, and some are negative, I think that it is like the bad trying to upset the good. You commented that it might take 2 years before you reach your potential, we can wait and in the mean time keep working on your touches, foul shots and whatever you need to improve. Go Magic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Justin

    It’s really amazing to me how many people say “how many championships have they won?” when talking about Lebron and Howard. How many superstars had won one title, let alone multiple ‘chips when they were in their EARLY 20′s!!??! I can think of Magic Johnson, and that’s about it. He didn’t exactly get drafted by a crappy team either, although his legend began in the Finals that year. Jordan was 28 when he won his first. People don’t just walk in and start winning right away. For the most part, it’s a veteran squad that gets it done. Wait until these guys have been in the league 10 years and start making comparisons and talking about championships. Again, I guess Karl Malone, John Stockton, Charles Barkley and those guys ended up being considered terrible players cuz they never won a championship right?

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    These types of no-story quotes sure do get a large response. Nicely done, SLAM.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    See, by quoting just the “Not Going to Change Anything About Me,” about a third of the readers are already fooled into thinking something like “Oh Dwight doesn’t want to improve his game!”
    Again, nicely done.

  • http://www.hoopistani.com Hoopistani

    Magic played with a smile on his face. I don’t hear anyone in the media dissing him about it.

  • nastierthanu

    @anton really bi!ch ni&&a gimme a break. D12 would whip ur tail. And that’s real talk. All these comments and no one says it but d12 has a tremendous faith maybe that’s where the smile comes from.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com Hursty

    @nastierthanu faith enough to impregnate a magic cheerleader (no condom obviously), then have a baby by her at age 22 or so? Without marrying? And then having finanical battles with her over child support?

  • The Philosopher

    dabkNugs: Nene is decent too.

  • http://slamonline.com/ Spaceship Jay

    Jukai: It’s not about not smiling, it’s about setting the tone for your teamates and the opposing team. LeBron is just as “jovial” when he is out there. However, it didn’t take a lip reader to understand what he was saying after he mixed Perkins and got that And-1 layup last Sunday. “BOGUS @$$ MUTHA-@#$%AZ”… And as far as Magic is concerned, he smiled constantly, and it was in the constant encouragement of his team; that’s why Magic was the grreatest point guard ever… If you were trash basketball wise, he wouldn’t make you look that way.. Or make you feel that way either

  • http://jdfkslld.com Jukai

    Spaceship Jay: I’m guessing that Skip Bayless’ comment, judging from your comment, was a ROUNDABOUT WAY of saying “Howard needs to get a mean side to him, he needs to punish someone when they deserve it and get angry occasionally”
    In which case, I would say, yes.
    However, if I take Bayless at his word, which is “Howard needs to stop smiling during games” I would say “Skip is a f*cking psycho”

  • http://alimartin07@yahoo.com Ali

    Co-sign Jukai. Just my two cents, his personality is his personality, that’s one thing, but going hard, for an entire game AND! working on your game in practice and the off season to get better is another thing. Cracking a smirk or smile on the court is ok, but when it comes time to put you foot on someones neck or slang a bow are you ready to do that! He’d get is a** whooped in The Association of years past (late 80′s and 90′s!) Is Pat Ewing teaching this kid anything?

  • http://jdfkslld.com Jukai

    Would Dwight really get an ass whoopin’ in the 80s and 90s? People keep saying this. Imagine if Dwight could just clog the lane and swat at everything that moved. Sure, dude would probably only average 10-15 points, but he’d be getting 16-18 boards and 4-5 blocks a game. People talk about how offense is so much easier to come by nowadays, but the L has really killed defense.

  • ConeyIslander

    I don’t know but if I was like 24 and making millions to PLAY basketball you couldn’t burn that smile off my face! Keep smiling to the bank D-Howard!

  • rikson

    “People talk about how offense is so much easier to come by nowadays, but the L has really killed defense.” -> oh my god, thats soooo true!

  • http://slamonline.com/ Spaceship Jay

    I highly doubt he’d get his @$$ whooped in the 80′s/90′s. Alot of the grimmy edge might be gone from the NBA, but the NBA players of today are FAR MORE athleticly gifted than those of the 80′s/90′s. Dwight could probably punch a hole in D Rob, Hakeem and Ewing at the same time. He may not be more skilled (yet…?) but physically, Fugeddaboutit.

  • http://sevendeu2u.wordpress.com/ Seven Duece

    He LED his team to the Finals last year, nuff said.

  • http://fdjsklf.com Jukai

    Spaceship Jay: Well, I wouldn’t go that far… Ewing, Hakeem, and D Rob would all probably give Howard the business. Especially ‘giant killer’ Olajuwon. I’m just saying Howard would like Eaton-esque if he just plowed himself in the lane and didn’t have to worry about ticky-tac fouls.

  • http://big11mel@yahoo.com Big Mel

    Everybody on here talking about he should hit somebody the same people talking about he hit D.Rose to hard.

  • hamza

    Forget d12
    he got posterized by my man cp!

  • http://slamonline.com jamaal 16

    Few things kobe won rings in his early twenties and if d12 played n the 80s and 90′s all those fouls wouldn’t even b called!

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